KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Anders Antonsen sent a strong message ahead of his Malaysia Open title defence by winning the King Cup in Shenzhen, China, on Sunday.
The Dane defeated home favourite, Hu Zhe An, 18-21, 21-11, 21-18 in a thrilling final.
Antonsen's victory earned him 1.1 million yuan (RM673,000) in the lucrative invitational tournament, organised by Chinese legend Lin Dan. Zhe An, the reigning world and Asian junior champion, took home 500,000 yuan.
India's Lakshya Sen finished third after beating French rising star, Alex Lanier, 21-17, 21-11, and earning 300,000 yuan — comparable to a finalist's prize money in a World Tour Super 1000 event.
In the semi-finals, Antonsen beat Lanier 21-15, 21-13 while Zhe An upset Lakhsya 21-19, 21-19.
The King Cup victory capped one of Antonsen's most successful seasons, during which he reached seven finals, converting five into titles.
He began the year by claiming the Malaysia Open, a feat he aims to repeat when the World Tour season-opener returns to Axiata Arena from Jan 7-12. His other victories were the Indonesia Masters, European Championship, Denmark Open and China Masters. He also finished runner-up at the Indonesia Open and World Tour Finals two weeks ago.
Antonsen praised Zhe An's exceptional performance in the King Cup, predicting the young player's imminent rise to the elite ranks. "What a crazy difficult match, and what an interesting player he is. I'm sure we're going to see much more of him in the future, that's 100% certain," said Antonsen.
The King Cup featured an impressive eight-player field, including Thailand's world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long, and another promising Chinese talent, Wang Zi Jun.